Shaquille O’Neal reveals high-schooler once RATTLED Kobe Bryant in training
Shaquille O'Neal recalled a story of the late great Kobe Bryant and two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis matching up.
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Shaquille O'Neal and Baron Davis recall Kobe Bryant story
NBA Legend Baron Davis recently joined Shaquille O’Neal on the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq. Shaq and Davis had a lot of interesting stories to tell, though none of them matched up to their wild story of the time a young Davis stunned Kobe Bryant, who had just entered the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal recalled stories of the legendary UCLA open gym runs which used to feature some of the top stars in the league. He mentioned one instance in particular, where a young Davis pulled up to one of the open gym runs.
Davis, a high schooler at the time, was on Shaq’s team. They were facing up against Kobe Bryant and a number of other pros.
I’ve been knowing Baron ever since he came in the gym and bust Kobe up when he was a youngster. See a lot of people don’t know these stories… remember those runs where, little kid came in, and was going at the Kobester.
Shaquille O’Neal recounted
Baron Davis was challenging Kobe Bryant while he was still in High School ?
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) November 8, 2024
Watch the full episode here: https://t.co/NYs6dOtLIT pic.twitter.com/D5Yor9J8Fc
For a young Davis, these legendary UCLA scrimmages were a dream. The room was filled with stars like Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, and Eddie Jones, plus a mix of Clippers, Lakers, and free agents. The Big Diesel spoke about how Davis was a star performer in the scrimmages, at just 16-17 years of age.
Shaq come up to UCLA, you know what I mean, ever so often in the summertime. And basically it’s summer school, everybody in the gym. All the pro’s Shaq, Kobe, Rick Fox, you know they got a Lakers Squad, you know they got some Clippers, some free agents Nick Van Exel in there, Eddie Jones came. It was, man, it was like for a kid like me, it was a dream.
Baron Davis stataed
Davis would become the primary defender on Bryant in the game, ‘busting him up’ as O’Neal recalled. The rivalry between Davis and Bryant wouldn’t stop there. The two faced off a number of times in the NBA. Davis averaged 16.6 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 29 games versus Bryant in his career.
Shaquille O’Neal names Baron Davis on his ‘Most Feared Players’ list
Years later, Shaquille O’Neal’s respect for Baron Davis would only deepen. It wasn’t just about that summer session with Kobe. On the same podcast, Shaq told co-host Adam Lefkoe about how Davis was one of the players he most respected.
The Big Diesel revealed that Davis is on his list of players he doesn’t “f*ck with” — reserved for the elite few Shaq genuinely found challenging to handle.
He [Baron Davis] was on that list too. Yep. In the game, come out of the pick-and-roll, I’ll be like I’m not going to show.
Shaquille O’Neal said
O’Neal naming Baron on that list says it all. Normally, his biggest challenges came from other centers. However, Davis’s speed and handles combined with his incredible athleticism made him a handful to deal with. Davis averaged 17.6 points, 6.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 17 games versus O’Neal in his career.
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Armaan Gupta
(465 Articles Published)